I am Sam
by MayFairy
Summary: Lily Potter makes a friend on the train, a wild child with violet eyes. Sam is from the muggle foster system and knows nothing of her own origin. But is she the only one who can stop the growing dark forces at work in the school? ADOPTED.
1. Arrival

I walked down the train corridor, looking for a compartment. Almost everywhere was full, but I eventually came across one that was empty. I sighed with relief as I finally managed to get my trunk onto the luggage rack. Lying back on the seats, I was content for about thirty seconds. After that, I needed something else to do, so I looked out the window. I saw many families, couples and younger siblings who weren't allowed to come to the school yet, standing on the platform. There was a certain couple that caught my eye. A man with black hair and green eyes and a red-headed woman were holding hands, and their eyes were searching for someone, something. The reason they had caught my attention was because the man had a strange scar on his forehead. It was the shape of a lightning bolt, and quite red. I watched him and the woman who I presumed was his wife for quite a while. They still hadn't seemed to have found who they were looking for, when the compartment door slide open. I whipped my head around to find someone standing in the doorway. It was a girl, a first year by the look of it, same as me. She had bright green eyes and red hair. Her flashy jeans and jacket suggested at least a bit of money in the family. They made my worn jeans and t-shirt seem a bit plain, but I tried to ignore that. She seemed nervous. There was someone behind her too, a boy about the same age, who had the same colour hair as her, but brown eyes.

"Excuse me? Do you think we could sit here?" The girl asked.

"Sure. Go ahead." I smiled at her. They came in and sat down. The girl got up and looked out the window, presumably looking for her parents. It seemed she had found them, because she started waving. I looked out the window curiously, just wondering who her parents were. I was surprised and amused by the fact that the couple who were waving back to her were the same couple I had been watching earlier. Now that I looked, she was the spitting image of her parents. She had her mother's hair, and her father's eyes. Her face had features of both.

"Do you need to wave goodbye to anyone?" She asked me suddenly. She must have only just realised she had been taking up the window. I shook my head quickly. She looked back out the window and kept waving even as the train started to move. The boy went over and waved as well. Then the train went around a corner, and they sat down.

"I'm so excited to finally be going! It was torture having to watch my brothers go before me but not be able to get on the train myself. I'm Lily, by the way." Lily said excitedly. She nudged the boy.

"I'm Hugo. Lily's my cousin." He had been staring into space, but now he quickly and willingly joined in the conversation.

"What's your name?" Lily asked me.

"Sam." I said, smiling but not elaborating on the subject.

"Is that short for something?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know." I sighed. Lily looked curious, but seemed to sense my unwillingness to continue with the subject.

"Do you know what house you going to be in?" Hugo asked me. "Both Lily and Me, all four of our parents were in Gryffindor. So hopefully we are too." I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

"Um... sorry, but I really don't know anything about all of this. You are going to have to either explain it to me, or we could talk about something I do know about." I said bluntly. I had been infamous at the group home (the place where us foster kids went when we didn't have a foster home) for not being afraid to tell the other foster kids, and the people who ran the place for that matter, what I thought of them. It had cause me a lot of trouble, and the bigger guys had beaten me up whenever I said something they didn't like, which had been often. I was a nice person, don't get me wrong. I just seldom lied, and I always got to the point.

"You don't know about anything? Are you muggle-born?" Lily asked, surprised. Muggle-born was one of the few terms I did understand. It amused me that the magical folk called the non-magical people 'muggles'. Muggle-born was a term

"I have no idea." I shrugged. I guessed by her expression that this conversation was a little different than she had expected.

"What do you mean? Surely either you are or you aren't. Were your parents wizards?" Hugo interjected.

"I never knew my parents names, what they looked like, or anything about them. I have never met them, and no one else who knows me has any idea who my parents are either. So I don't know." I told them. It was going to get out sometime. Why not let it loose before we even got to the school? Hugo and Lily had not been expecting my answer. Hugo became deep in thought, while Lily simply opened her mouth in a large 'O'. She was about to speak, when sliding door of the compartment opened. The two boys standing there were both older than us, both with black hair, the older one (who looked about 14 or 15) had with the exact same colour eyes as Lily, and both looked just like Lily's father on the platform. It hit me that these were her brothers. The older one spoke first.

"Hey little sis. We're here to steal Hugo. He needs to come and meet the boys, not hang out with girls." He had the air of someone who was popular and knew it. He had also confirmed that he was the brother of Lily.

"Hey Lily. Who's your friend?" The younger boy asked. He looked about 13, and had the brown eyes of Lily's mother.

"This is Sam. Sam, these are my brothers. The cocky one on the right is James, and the quieter on the left trying to get around James' arm, is Albus." Lily teased, sticking out her tongue at her siblings. They both looked me over, eyes sweeping over my old jeans and favourite t-shirt (a bright green one that one that said in electric blue letters, 'the great thing about this t-shirt is that by the time you have finished reading it you realise it says nothing at all.' It had a piece of mocking humor that I enjoyed), my tattered sneakers, my blonde pixie-cut, and my violet eyes. Having purple eyes was very rare, and people always reacted to it in strange ways. Albus whistled, and James swore. I laughed. James grabbed Hugo and pulled him away and out of the compartment, and Albus followed.

"Bye." He said, smiling at us before running after James. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Guys. I think purple eyes are cool. You're so lucky. Um, I don't mean to be rude, but why is your hair so short? I love my hair being long." Lily said.

"Quicker to wash, quicker to dry. Where I come from, the sooner you get out of the shower, the less chance the older kids will beat you up for taking too long. They're not the most patient of people." I said, laughing at the memory of one of the older and meaner bullies at the group home. I started to tell the story to Lily.

"He had been chasing me for one reason or another, and we had been running down one of those sets of stairs that go around in a loop, and if you look down the middle, you can see all the way to the bottom. Anyway, being the skinny weed I am, I squeezed through the gap, and climbed down through the middle. I only realised later just how dangerous it had been, but at the time it was a stroke of genius. But the thing was I was getting away. So he tried to follow me. He got stuck, and it took them hours to get him out. It was hilarious, 'course he was the laughing stock of the home for quite a while. Naturally, he's hated me since." After the story was finished, I laughed harder than I had in a long time. Lily laughed as well, but then she stopped and looked at me funny.

"You live in a home? Like a foster home?" She asked, worried.

"More like the group home where all the kids get put until we get a home, or after we have screwed up ones we have already had." I said, snorting at her horrified expression. "It's pretty rough. The older ones like to pick on the younger ones, and you gotta learn how to fight, or you're gang bashed into a bloody pulp." I flexed my arm, showing off my muscles.

"Whoa. It's so strange to think that people go through with all that, and the rest of us just get on with our lives and barely realise." Lily said.

"Don't worry about it. It's what happens every day. Let's talk about something else. You could try and tell me stuff I'm gonna need to know so I don't look like a retard when we get there." I changed the subject, as Lily was only getting more and more uncomfortable.

"Okay, well there is Quidditch. That's our sport that everyone follows. And the sorting hat sorts us into houses....." She told me lots of things that were useful to know. Partway through the trip, a lady came through with the food trolley. I only had the money from the Hogwarts fund, so I bought a chocolate frog and left it at that. Lily had quite a bit of money, and bought 'Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans', two pumpkin pasties, a chocolate frog. I had no idea what any of these things were, which is why I had gone with the chocolate frog. Chocolate was chocolate, right?

"So, what are these?" I asked, looking the packet over.

"Well, let me show you." Lily opened hers, and a brown frog hopped out. She grabbed it before it could go anywhere. "It's just a charm." She bit into its head. I opened mine, and found it had a lot of energy. I had to make a leap to stop it from disappearing onto the luggage rack. Finally having caught it, I sucked on the foot. Thinking just how messed up it was. Sucking a chocolate frog's foot, what next? Lily opened her every flavour beans.

"Sorry for getting so much food. I didn't have much of a breakfast, and I didn't bring lunch." She apologised.

"It's fine." I mumbled, not bothering to mention that I had not eaten at all today, and had not brought food with me. At the group home, it wasn't unusual for the older kids to steal food from the others. You just had to sit there with your piece of toast, or tiny bowl of cereal, and hope they took someone else's breakfast. Unfortunately, mine had been stolen this morning. Lily ate one of her beans and then made a face. "What is it?" I asked, concerned.

"They mean every flavour, I tell you. I just got blood flavour. Yuck. Want to try one?" She asked. I raised my eyebrows. The challenge was interesting. I put my hand in, pulled out a pale green bean, and popped it into my mouth. "What did you get?" Lily was eager to know.

"Cabbage, I think." I answered. She laughed. She gave me three more; the red one was chilli, the white one peppermint, and pineapple was yellow. We had a great time on the train, and we changed into our robes. Eventually the train stopped. We hopped out, hauling our luggage with us. We left the trunks at the place we were meant to, and walked towards the husky voice that was calling for first years.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here... firs' years...." As we got closer, we saw the voice belonged to a giant of a man, he was huge and his dark hair was ragged and long, his whole face practically cover by his beard and hair. But his black eyes stood out, and when they saw Lily, they twinkled.

"What would your name be then?" He asked her. Lily looked surprised, but then relaxed.

"Lily Potter, sir. Are you Hagrid?" She asked, smiling.

"That would be me. You're Harry and Ginny's daughter, aren't you?" I wondered how he knew that, but kept quiet. Lily nodded.

"Dad told me heaps about you. Said you had a dragon, and they had to get rid of it and then they lost heaps of house points and got detentions, and then they had the detention with you, and he saw Voldemort in the forest, killing unicorns." She said eagerly. What I could see of Hagrid's face went pink.

"Well, that is all true, but do me a favour and don't tell anyone about that." He said quickly. He turned to me and looked me over, just like everyone seemed to do. "Now, and who are you? I like to learn people's names, more friendly."

"I'm Sam." I said. I had always been petite and small, but this was the first time I had felt short in a long time, as I craned my neck to look him in the eye.

"I see. What is your surname?" He asked.

"Haven't got one." I said. Hagrid raised a thick eyebrow, and was about to ask another question when he realised all the first years were waiting for him.

"Okay, four to a boat. Get going. We're late. C'mon!" He shouted. We walked down the stone steps to see the small row boats. Lily and I got into a boat with two guys. One had messy light brown hair, and the other was a solid-looking dark haired boy who said nothing to us, just looked at the lake silently. The brown haired boy talked to us as the boats automatically took us across the lake. His name was Philip Turner, and he was the type who could just talk and talk until the cows came home, but I liked him. He was friendly. Hagrid had a whole boat to himself, but it moved as fast as the rest. Suddenly we rounded a corner, and saw a huge stone castle. It had turrets, towers, and everything that goes with the whole castle theme. It was amazing.

"That's the school? We're going to live there?" I asked, dumbstruck.

"Duh. Where else? Of course this is the school. What are you? Some sort of stupid mudblood?" The guy who had said nothing suddenly sneered as he acted superior.

"What's a mudblood? Maybe I am. But who are you anyway?" I retorted angrily.

"I'm Cane Goyle. Mudblood are the spawn of muggles, but somehow they have magic. They're filthy, and shouldn't be here." Cane said, turning his nose up. Phillip got mad, and I guessed he was muggle born, and obviously took offense at what Cane had said.

"That's the biggest load of crap I have ever heard in my life. Phillip, for god sakes calm down. You can't fight here, you'll tip the boat. At least wait till we get to shore." I said, trying to sort this out not really liking the prospect of falling into the lake just because the boys got into a stupid fight. They calmed down but ignored each other for the rest of the trip. We finally got out of the boats, and we walked up to the castle. We were walking up some steps when I heard shouts of annoyance.

"Get out of our way! Move!" Someone was causing trouble further down, and I heard them running up behind us. I looked over my shoulder, and saw the culprits were two boys who seemed determined to rush up the steps, and believed that everyone should move out of their way. I had met people like them at the group home. It wasn't uncommon. The annoying jerks were almost up to us on the steps, and I purposely moved into their path, blocking the way of the closest one. In about ten seconds, someone shoved me forward.

"Move! Get out of my way." He said. He had short black hair that was combed back perfectly, and I supposed he was quite good-looking, but his eyes were grey and cold. I felt an instant dislike towards him. I turned around, and cross my arms.

"Why should I? Maybe I would have if you had said please. But you didn't, so I don't think I will." I said coldly. Then I turned around and kept walking. I was shoved again, this time harder. I turned around again, now angry and not afraid to let him know it. I felt a fight coming, and I welcomed it.

"Move, now. I don't know who you think you are, but you'll soon learn that some i.e. purebloods like me, are at the top of the food chain. So you need to get out of my way, or you will regret it." He hissed.

"I'm not going to move. You need to learn that I don't give a donkey's ass about your stupid 'food chain'. I say that if someone wants to go in front, they ask nicely. Try and hit me, and you will be the one that suffers. Come on, hit me. I'm dying for you to try." I told him, smiling because I knew he was going to try and resort to violence, and that he would be the one that ended up sprawled on the ground. He swung his fist around, aiming for my nose. He had good aim, but like anyone from the foster care system, I was quick. I grabbed his fist and used it to shove his arm behind his back. I had learnt as quickly as all the other kids in the group house had, that this was a painful experience. I pressed it harder up. He squirmed, but achieved nothing. He yelled and tried to break free, and suddenly everyone was quiet, and now everyone was watching, not just the few people close by. I pushed him down the steps, and watched as he rolled down.

"You crazy idiot! You'll pay for this!" Was the shout I heard from the rolling log that was my new enemy. Everyone started to move again, and started talking again, except that this time they were probably talking about me. I refused to let that bother me, and ran to catch up with Lily. When she saw me, she looked at me, surprised.

"You just shoved him down the steps." She was shocked.

"He tried to punch me! And he was being such a jerk." I defended myself.

"Good point. The expression on his face was really funny." She laughed, and things were comfortable between us again. We were laughing and making jokes until we reached the top of the steps. Then we stopped and looked at the huge door that was in front of us. They opened slowly. Out came a man in navy blue robes.

"Thank You Hagrid. I'll take them now." He said. He had a round, kind face. I thought he seemed like a nice person even though he hadn't said much yet.

"It's all right Neville, I mean, Professor Longbottom, sir." Hagrid said. Professor Longbottom smiled.

"Come one then. Follow me." And with that he walked inside. We all followed, and walked into the magnificent castle.


	2. The Violet Eyed Girl

**I am so sorry that i have taken so long to get this chapter up. Lost Star (twilight story) is sort of my focus, but i'm hoping to get it finished and then that is one less story i have to worry about. This is Lily's view of meeting Sam, and what she thought of her. This is a Sam and Lily story, and although most of the time it will be Sam, it will also have some Lily and occasionally others. Enjoy this chapter, because i don't know when i am going to update next. :-) **

******~Lily's POV~******

I couldn't believe I was finally going. It had been absolute torture seeing my brothers go year after year and not be able to just hop on the train after them.

But this year was different.

"Mum, come on! I can't miss the train!" I whined. Mum was taking FOREVER. I should have just gone with Dad and the boys. But I had decided to wait for Mum, and now I was going to be late.

"Hang on, Lily. See, I'm coming now, ok?" Mum said. I grabbed her arm and pulled her away. She hastily clicked the automatic car lock on the keys over her shoulder, and then came willingly. We weren't late, as it turned out. I had to admit that even though it was the fourth time I had been through the barrier, I was still expecting the crash. Luckily it ever came. I could see my brothers and Dad, chatting to Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Rose and Hugo. It was his first year too. Some distance away from them, I thought I could see Uncle George and Aunty Angelina laughing at an over sized canary, which promptly malted and turned into Uncle Percy. I smiled. Canary creams never got old. Although Uncle Percy never had had a sense of humour, the one time I was bold to ask him about it, he said that the last time he made a joke, someone dropped dead. I had laughed, but I had been the only one.

It wasn't until yesterday that Dad had told me everything.

It wasn't until yesterday that I had known about the past, the past which my Dad had helped change. My Dad, he had beaten the greatest dark wizard of all time. It had taken him a very long time to explain his whole story. Frankly, I had been horrified. My great Aunt and Uncle sounded perfectly horrid, although I had never met. We did pop in about once a year to visit my second cousin (Dad's cousin) Dudley and his family though. He had turned out alright. Still a little thick, it was true. But he was a fairly decent guy.

I still couldn't believe that such terrible things could have happened. I had asked Dad why he hadn't told me all of it earlier, and he had said he wanted to make sure I was ready. He also said that he probably wouldn't have told me so early, but people at Hogwarts were sure to mention it, and he wanted me to find out from him. I was so glad things weren't like that anymore.

"You should probably get on the train now, dear. Need to make sure you get a compartment." Dad said. I hugged everyone good bye, and then turned to Hugo.

"Are you ready?" I asked him. He smiled. We walked onto the train. Soon a lot a noise started up behind us, and I turned around to see Fred and George the second and their sister Roxanne coming up behind us. When the twins saw us, they grinned smiles as identical as their faces (in other words, completely impossible to tell apart).

"Hey cousin." One of them said.

"Hey, other cousin." Continued the other. Roxanne rolled her eyes, then spotted Rose down the hall and hurried after her.

"Hey." Hugo and I replied at the same time.

"So how are you two," The first twin said (I had a feeling it might have George).

"On this fine day?" finished twin number two.

"We're good. But you two are giving me a headache, and so we're leaving." I told them firmly.

"Wait!" Said twin number one.

"We have custard creams," Said the other.

"If you are interested." Grinned the first.

"I would like to get through my first day at Hogwarts without turning into a canary, thanks. Goodbye." I walked away and Hugo followed.

"What year are those two again?" He asked me as we tried to find an empty compartment.

"Third. Apparently the first Fred and George were just as bad." I told him.

"Scary thought." Hugo pretended to shudder.

"I know." I laughed. I couldn't see any empty compartments, but I found one with only one person in it. I slid the door open.

"Excuse me; do you think we could sit here?" I asked the girl inside. Her head had flicked up when I opened the door, and now she smiled.

"Sure. Go ahead." This girl looked very interesting. Her hair was a golden blonde pixie cut; she had a light tan and the most beautiful eyes. They were bright violet. She was quite petite but had a sort of fierceness about her. I was looking forward to hopefully getting to know her, but the train would be leaving soon. I had to wave goodbye to my parents. I went over to the window and looked for them in the crowd. It didn't take long to spot them, what with Mum's bright red hair and all (of course there were a lot of Weasley's on the platform, so it wasn't as rare as it could have been). I waved, and then they waved. Mum was mouthing 'we'll write' and Dad was just smiling and giving me a 'thumbs up'. I would have kept waving, but I realised I was hogging the window.

"Do you need to wave goodbye to anyone?" I didn't want her to think me inconsiderate, after all. She quickly shook her head with a slightly sad expression. I shrugged and kept waving as the train started moving. Hugo realise it was his last chance and came over the window to wave at his parents as well. Suddenly we rounded a corner and I couldn't see them any more. I finally sat down.

"I'm so excited to finally be going! It was torture having to watch my brothers go before me, but not being to get on the train myself. I'm Lily, by the way." I couldn't contain my excitement. I noticed Hugo had drifted off into space and nudged him. He return from wherever his mind had been before and joined the conversation.

"I'm Hugo. Lily's my cousin." He said.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"Sam." She replied simply.

"Is that short for something?" Surely it wasn't her real name. Samantha, maybe? She didn't look at all like a Samantha; she just looked like a… well… Sam. Sam frowned.

"I don't know." She didn't say it in a dismissive tone, she said like she actually didn't know, while she shrugged her shoulders. How strange, though it wasn't the only strange thing about this girl. For example, why hadn't she wanted a turn at the window? Were her family not on the platform, or could she just not be bothered? So many questions. However, it seemed she didn't want to go into any details about her name, so I kept quiet.

"Do you know what house you are going to be in? All four of our parents were in Gryffindor, so hopefully me and Lily are too." Hugo asked Sam. She looked at us blankly.

"Um…Sorry, but I really don't have any idea what you're talking about. You are either going to have to explain it to me, or we could talk about something that I do know about." Sam told us frankly. Her words surprised me. Not know about houses? Must be a muggle born.

"You don't know about anything? Are you muggle born?" I asked her.

"I have no idea." She replied, shrugging. Hugo appeared just as confused as I felt. Whatever I had expected when I first saw Sam, it hadn't been this.

"What do you mean? Surely you are, or you aren't. Are your parent's wizards?" Hugo asked her.

"I never knew my parents names, what they looked like, or anything about them. I have never met them, and no one else who knows me has any idea who my parents are either. So I don't know." Sam looked just the tiniest bit annoyed, but more interested in what our reaction would be. Never knew her parents? Never even have known who they are? WHAT? I was so surprised that I could help my mouth opening in shock. Luckily I was saved from having to think of something to say because the compartment door opened and my idiot brothers came in.

"Hey little sis. We're here to steal Hugo. He needs to come and meet the boys, not hang out with girls." James grinned in his cocky and idiotic fashion.

"Hey Lily. Who's your friend?" At least Albus had half a brain.

"This is Sam. Sam, these are my brothers. The cocky one on the right is James, and the quieter on the left trying to get around James' arm, is Albus." I laughed and poked my tongue out at James. Albus whistled, and James swore in surprise. I was assuming that their reaction was concerning her strangely coloured (but totally awesome) eyes. Sam just took one look at their expressions and started laughing. After that the boys left, taking my cousin with them.

"Guys. I think purple eyes are cool. You're so lucky." I reassured her. "Though, not meaning to be rude, but why is your hair so short?" I love my hair being so long." I had to ask her. Her hair totally suited her, but why any girl would want short hair was beyond me.

"Quicker to wash, quicker to dry. Where I come from, the sooner you get out of the shower, the less chance the older kids will beat you up for taking too long. They're not the most patient of people." Sam face was dead serious, until she suddenly laughed at some memory. She told me the story of how one of the bully's had gotten stuck in the stairs. It was funny, I couldn't deny it. But I was more shocked about the fact that someone was quite that violent. By the time she got to the end of the story, it made more sense, but that didn't mean I liked it. A home? I suppose it made sense, what with hr not having any parents. She would have to live somewhere.

"You live in a home? Like a foster home?" I had to be sure.

"More like the group home where all the kids get put until we get a home, or after we have screwed up ones we have already had." Sam corrected me, snorting at my horrified expression. "It's pretty rough. The older ones like to pick on the younger ones, and you gotta learn how to fight, or you're gang bashed into a bloody pulp." She flexed her arm, and I could see that while she wasn't in any way brawny, she would be very useful in a physical fight.

"Whoa. It's so strange to think that people go through with all that, and the rest of us just get on with our lives and barely realise." I said in awe.

"Don't worry about it. It's what happens every day. Let's talk about something else. You could try and tell me stuff I'm gonna need to know so I don't look like a retard when we get there." Sam seemed to sense my awkwardness on this topic, and I willingly went along with it when she changed the subject. I told her pretty much all I knew, and she seemed fascinated. I couldn't get over how strange it was for someone not to know any of this. After half an hour through the trip, the lunch carriage came to our compartment.

"Anything tickle your fancy?" The kind looking elderly lady who was selling things asked us. Sam looked at the trolley with a wistful but confused expression, and eventually just bought a chocolate frog. I hadn't had breakfast because I had been so excited, so I went a bit over board and bought the every flavour beans, two pumpkin pasties and a chocolate frog. Dad had given me a fair bit of money. I noticed Sam staring at her chocolate frog packet with an expression of distrust.

"So what exactly are these?" She asked me.

"Well, let me show you." I said helpfully. I tore the packet open and the frog jumped out. I snatched back just before it jumped. "It's just a charm." I said when I saw her alarmed expression. I bit into the frog head. Sam opened hers, and it jumped away before she could grab it. It jumped high, toward the luggage rack, but she leapt up out of her seat and caught it with perfect precision. I was impressed, and had a feeling she had the makings of a great seeker, or chaser maybe. Once I had finished my frog, I opened my Bertie Botts Every-Flavour Beans. I saw Sam eyeing my food with a strange expression. I immediately felt bad. She must think I am a total rich pig.

"Sorry for getting so much food. I didn't have much of a breakfast, and I didn't bring lunch." I apologised. After all, I didn't want her to think me insensitive.

"It's fine." She replied, looking like she had something else to say, but kept quiet. I bit into my first bean for something to do, only to cringe when it turned out to be blood flavour.

"What is it?" Sam wanted to know what was wrong with the bean.

"They mean every flavour, I tell you. I just got blood flavour. Yuck. Want to try one?" I explained. You had to be adventurous to eat these. Uncle George had sworn to me that he had eaten a bogey flavoured one once, and Dad had told about how Dumbledore, at the end of Dad's first year had come across earwax. Sam did seem intrigued by the challenge, and I handed her a pale green bean which I immediately didn't trust. She put it in her mouth, and while she didn't seem too pleased about the flavour, there were no extreme reactions.

"What did you get?" I asked her curiously. The flavours that these people came up with were always fascinating.

"Cabbage, I think." She mused. I laughed, and gave her some more beans; A red one that turned out to be chilli, a fairly innocent white peppermint, and a yellow pineapple bean. It wasn't for a while that I noticed that there was a cat in a wire cage on the floor. It was black with white socks just under halfway up its legs, and had green eyes bright enough to rival my own. Sam explained it was her kitten, Mystery. We spent a long time petting her throughout the train journey (and I introduced Sam to my owl, rum), though we did get changed, so that by the time we had arrived at Hogwarts, we were ready. We met Hagrid on the platform, and I easily recognised him from my parents descriptions, just as much as me recognised me. After that he lead us on the boat trip, which could have easily ended in disaster when the two boys we were sitting with got into a fight, and didn't stop until Sam calmed them down. Then on the steps up to the school, Sam actually did get into a fight with someone after he was being a pompous pure-blood and she shoved him down the steps and laughed. It was new side of her, and quite frankly, it scared me little. But she changed back into her normal self once we started talking again. Maybe she is just violent when it comes to bullies. I am still not sure. Neville (wait, I was supposed to call him 'Professor Longbottom) was waiting at the doors into the castle.

It was time.

**Ok... that last part might have seemed a bit rushed, but do you want an update or not? not to mention it would just mostly be repeats of old dialogue. Please review!**


	3. Houses, Hats and Wrong Names

**So... i have finally gotten around to updating this story again! It is quite amazing. This is my longest chapter ever! It is nearly 5,000 words! Anyway, so i have quite a bit of the next chapter of this story already written out, so i may update is soon, but Lost Star is getting very exciting and far more people read it and so it is my priority right now. Enjoy the chapter, and if you are confused about anything or just have a question, please don't hesitate to ask! i love hearing from you guys. **

The inside of the castle was just as amazing as the outside. The longer was here, the more I felt like a dream. We walked up a set of stairs and then came to be in front of a large wooden door.

"Now, before the feast, the first years will be sorted into your houses. While you are here, you house sort of like a family. If you do well, you will receive points. Break any rules, and you will lose them. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. So when we go in, I will call out the names. When I call your name, come up to the stool, place the hat on your head, and you will be given a house. Let's go." Professor Longbottom said. The doors opened and we walked into the back of the coolest room yet. We were at the back of and walking forward towards the front of a large dining hall, with five long tables, one for staff, and four for students. I was guessing one for each house, but I could be wrong. Soon we had reached the front of the room, and everyone was staring at us. Lovely. If I came to be looking anyone in the eye, I would give them my 'what are YOU looking at?' look. That made them raise their eyebrows, but they did stop staring. I stood by Lily as we walked toward the front of the room, and hoped for the best. As Lily had explained to me on the train, the four houses each had one quality that was it most known for. Gryffindor was known for being brave, and lots of famous people like Albus Dumbledore had been in it, Slytherin had a bad reputation for turning out wizards who turned evil, Ravenclaw was the smarty-pants house, and Hufflepuff were known for being kind, but sometimes pushovers and softies. If I got into Slytherin, I would die. It would be so humiliating. I fancied being in Gryffindor, because I was brave almost to the point of stupid and careless, which pretty much crossed off Ravenclaw. I was definitely not Hufflepuff material. This left Slytherin and Gryffindor. Sure Slytherin apparently had some backbone, but being mean to people who hadn't done anything wasn't really my thing. People who had pissed me, well then I wouldn't hesitate. Gryffindor, it really did seem like the only house I fit into, but only time would tell. I just noticed for the first time, that there was a four legged stool in front of the staff table, with a tattered old hat on top of it. It would have looked at home at the group home where I had come from, where everything was just as filthy as the hat, if not more. When we reached the front of the room, we all stood there awkwardly and waited for something to happen. Professor Longbottom cleared his throat, and then blushed when everyone turned their attention to him. I liked him more and more by the second, and thought he would be a good source of laughter more often than not.

"When I call your name, walk up here. I'll put the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted." He told us. But he didn't start reading the names. Everyone else seemed to be watching the hat, like they were expecting it to do something. So I stared at it too. Then it did do something. The two patches on the front starting looking more and more like eyes, and the rip at the brim opened like a mouth. Before I could take all that in, the Hat burst into song.

_Gather round and listen all,_

_Whether you be short or tall._

_I've been around much longer than all of you,_

_Because I have a very important job to do._

_When the founders realised _

_That they would not always be here to select,_

_Godric Gryffindor changed me from a normal hat, into one of superior intellect. _

_I look straight inside your brain, and see who you really are._

_Be you as evil as the devil himself, or as timid as a mouse, I will find you your house. _

_Which one you say? _

_Perhaps Gryffindor, brave and strong,_

_You may be picked to join the mighty red throng. _

_Or maybe Ravenclaw,_

_If you galore in wisdom and truth. _

_Or could Hufflepuff be right for you, if you are kind and your soul true. _

_Under the green flag, Slytherin stand cunning and proud. _

_You may be picked to join this crowd._

_Whichever one it might be, _

_Welcome to the Hogwarts family! _

_Try me on!_

_I'll sort you out! _

_For I'm the hat! _

_And that is that._

The song was followed by applause, while I personally just stared at the hat in wonder. That was all we had to do? Put on the hat? Weird. Professor Longbottom opened a scroll and read something off it.

"Abbott, Charlotte."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then a timid looking girl with strawberry blonde stepped forward. Professor smiled at her reassuringly and gestured to the stool. After hovering next to it hesitantly for a second, she sat down. As the professor approached her with the sorting hat, with every inch it came closer she became increasingly nervous, as though she was afraid the hat was going to eat her. I felt sorry for her; I would have hated to have gone first. He placed it on her head before she could change her mind. Charlotte jumped in surprise and eyed the hat fearfully. It was probably a trick of the light, but for a second it looked as though the hat was talking to her. Suddenly the rip at the seam burst wide open.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" It shouted. One of the tables cheered, and she took off the hat and joined the aforementioned table. Of course now that the first person had been sorted, not too many were scared and we ran through the list fairly quickly.

"Abercrombie, Jamie."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Boot, Sara."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Creevey, Colin." The blonde boy looked extremely enthusiastic as he clambered up into the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!" He looked pleased with himself, and this didn't change despite his tripping up as he walked to the Gryffindor table.

"Cauldwell, Samuel."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Dariand, Sol." The boy I had pushed down the steps stepped forward. I would bet my unused wand that he would be in Slytherin. The hat took less than a second to choose Sol's place.

"SLYTHERIN!" He got off the stool to join the Slytherin table, and looked very pleased with himself.

"Dorny, Max."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Finnigan, Aidan." The sorting hat took a long time to decide for Aidan. After at least a minute, the hat had made up its mind.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Aidan looked relieved.

"Goyle, Cane."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Jordan, Kiara."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

About half of us were left. The hat was up to 'M'.

"McCarty, Sam." The professor called. Oh great. Now I had seven years of accidently turning around when someone says the name Sam and they weren't actually talking to me. I really hoped that this other Sam would turn out to be either a boy or at least in a different house to me. Whispers ran through the crowd as thirty seconds had passed and no one had yet stepped forward.

"McCarty, Sam." Professor Longbottom said again. I was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why did the name Sam McCarty sound so familiar?

Oh crap. They didn't. They couldn't have. But they had. DAMN IT!

I stepped forward, the fact that everyone's eyes were on me not exactly helping my confidence. Professor Longbottom looked at me with a relieved expression. I threw him an apologetic smile, even though what I really wanted to do was rip up the scroll he was holding into shreds for making such a mistake. Once upon a time, a.k.a. about two months ago, I had gone by the name Sam McCarty. It was one of those glorious (insert sarcasm here) times when for a (usually rather short) period of time I was removed from the group home and put into the care of so called 'foster parents'. Shawna and Bernie Mc Carty hadn't been the best of guardians.

It had lasted all of two weeks, which was a record, even for me. I had no idea why they had gotten a foster child in the first place, since they had such a prejudice again us. They had always been wary and slightly scared of me, like I was a wild animal about to attack them or something. My already doomed to be short stay had been stopped dead when I called Shawna a 'prejudiced old bitch' after she found me in my room eating sherbet and immediately accused me of being a cocaine user. Thirty minutes later my bags had been packed and I was on an hour long bus ride back to the group home. I did not want to be associated with those two ever again. I was going to have to talk to someone about the roll. Right now though, I had the Sorting Hat to worry about it. I sat on the stool and flicked my eyes up to watch as the hat settled on my head. I hadn't been wrong before, the hat was whispering now that it was on my head.

"Now you _are _an interesting one. You haven't really belonged anywhere before, have you? No need to worry about that now, though I do see a lot of confusion here. Though shocking amounts of bravery, no doubt about that. Not exactly pride, but a thirst for justice...a quick and brilliant mind too... you would do well in Ravenclaw, girl... but I think you will have to be...

GRYFFINDOR!" the hat finally decided after much debate. The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers and applause. I gave the hat back and headed towards my table, when I heard the hat start speaking again. I turned around.

"And get her name right next time!" It directed that to the Professors. I was the only one who got the joke, but that didn't stop me from laughing. Most of the noise I made was drowned out by the Gryffindors anyway. I went down to sit in the space between Lily's two brothers, and watch the rest of the first years get sorted. The only one I paid particular attention to was another girl (Queen, Morgan) sorted into Gryffindor, and suddenly, Lily was up.

"Potter, Lily!" As soon as her name was called, whispers and hushed voices broke out.

"Is that Harry Potter's daughter?"

"It has to be her."

"That's so cool!"

"Makes you wonder what would have happened back in the day when he was the one being sorted, doesn't it? They probably all fainted." Albus whispered into my left ear. I snorted. "Still, I kind of wish that they would all mind their own business. Yes, my dad was one of the biggest heroes of the century, oh wow, he actually got a life and had kids, and yes, I'm one of them. Get over it, and get on with your own life." I nodded.

"People are way too nosy for their own good. Especially the girls." I agreed. After that we watch his sister's sorting in silence. The hat didn't take long.

"GRYFFINDOR!" I cheered as loud as I could. James stood up and yelled,

"GO LITTLE SIS!" Of course that wasn't anything compared to the mad red headed twins (that were clearly related to her) who jumped up and did funny tribal looking dance, that they did while chanting, 'LILY! LILY! LILY!' She blushed furiously at her insane relatives but couldn't help smiling fondly. I moved over so there was space between me and James for her. She could deal with her oldest brother's antics.

We watched our boat mate, Phillip Turner get sorted into Ravenclaw, and 'Thomas, Ebony' join the small group of Gryffindor girls. Eventually it was Hugo's turn. As with Lily, the hat didn't take long to decide.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Hugo grinned and took great pleasure in joining his relatives. There were only two more people after Hugo.

"West, Shania."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Zabini, Royce."

"SLYTHERIN!" He joined his house, and sat by Cane and Sol. Professor Longbottom took away that Sorting Hat and the stool. For the first time I looked to the High Table. I saw Hagrid and Professor Longbottom (once he had returned to the table), but could see anyone else I recognised until my eyes fell onto the person at the middle of the table. With a jolt surprise that was not unpleasant, I recognised Professor Rondino, the one I knew to be the headmaster of this school. He had been the one who changed my life, by coming to see me and explaining to me that this was the world I was meant for, that I was a witch. His chestnut brown hair flopped down across his face, and he pushed it out of his eyes as he stood up to address the school.

"To those who are new here, welcome to Hogwarts! To older students, welcome back! I am sure it is going to be a great year. But more on that later. I'm sure you are all starving"-Just as he said that my stomach growled loudly-"so all that can wait. Dig in!" He grinned at us and sat down.

"Oh! There's steak. Thank Merlin." Lily said gratefully. I turned back to the table to figure out what she was talking about, and my mouth literally dropped open. The golden plates in front of us that had been previously empty were now filled with every kind of food imaginable. I had never really had any of this in my life, since most of the time the people who ran the group home couldn't be bothered buying us nice food. The time I had had anything close to this, was sometimes at a good foster home, but still. I had never seen so much food in one place. For a minute I just stared at it, and after deciding I wasn't dreaming I got myself large helpings of everything. It was the first thing I had eaten all day (you couldn't really count the frog and the beans), and so naturally I was ravenous.

"You're Sam, aren't you?" Said a slightly older red headed boy that was sitting close to me.

"I'm sure she is. She's the one that didn't know her own name." Said the boy who was next to him, and who happened to look exactly like him. They were the twins who had done that funny dance when Lily got sorted.

"I know my own name." I said with an air of indignation. One of them snorted.

"Didn't look like it." He noted.

"My name is the easiest name to remember that even exists." I scowled at them and then paused to take a mouthful of potatoes.

"Sam McCarty? Granted, it is fairly simple. But there are simpler names." The second twin disagreed.

"Don't you ever say that name again. That's not my name, and never will be." I threatened them in a dangerously low tone while glaring at them. "I'm dead serious." They recoiled a little, but curiosity got the better of them.

"What do you mean it's not your name? The list is never wrong. By the way I'm Fred. That's George." Said the first twin.

"So your name isn't Sam, then?" Asked George.

"The list was wrong. I am Sam. Just Sam, nothing more. Not Sam McCarty, just Sam. I will never be Sam McCarty." I told them.

"Well then, what is your surname?" inquired Fred.

"I don't have one. I'm just Sam. Nothing more, nothing less. Sam." I finalized, and went back to eating. But now Lily joined the conversation, and I realised that she has been listening the whole time.

"So you don't have a last name at all? I mean, you told me you didn't know your parents, but that seems a bit extreme." Lily said. I reluctantly put down my fork.

"Lily, how could I? Our last names come from our parents. I don't have any. I'm Sam." I said gently. I most certainly didn't want a pity party.

"Hang on a minute. If you don't have a last name, then where did the list get McCarty from? Maybe that is your real last name!" George said excitedly.

"No. I used to sort of go by the name Sam McCarty, at one of the foster homes. The McCarty household, it was a nightmare, I'm telling you. I barely lasted two weeks before getting shipped back. That was the last foster home I had, and hopefully my last ever. But I never want to remember them, so there is no way I am keeping that name. Anyway, a week after I got back to the group home Professor Rondinio turned up there with my Hogwarts letter, so I was alright." After my little speech, I went back to eating my food, and the conversation ended. And as if the food wasn't amazing enough, after it had magically disappeared, desserts turned up. I felt like I had quite possibly died and gone to heaven. I made myself the hugest ice cream sundae none to existence, and tucked in. Lily laughed at me.

"It's not going anywhere, Sam. Slow down. Geez, you would think you had never seen food before." She said.

"This is the first thing I have eaten all day, Lily. Give me a break." I pretended not to notice her deep frown after I said that. She was going to have to get used to my past sometime. I was surprised that I was actually able to feel full, but I managed it and put my spoon down with a satisfied sigh.

"That was amazing. Is food like this every day?" I asked Lily. She shrugged, and her brother Albus answered.

"No, but we will have the same for Halloween, and the last day of the school." He said. I wasn't that surprised. It was all too good to be true. "But the food is still really good anyway." He said quickly, seeing my slight disappointment. I laughed.

"Albus, anything is better than what I am used to. You can't even imagine what my idea of a normal meal is." I shook my head. Just then the desserts disappeared, and it was time to listen to the head master again.

"So, before I say anything else, I would like to introduce the Head boy and Girl to you this year. The Head Boy is Louis Weasley." An incredibly good looking blonde guy stood up from further down our table. People clapped for him, especially Lily's mad siblings/family. Lily clapped as well, but there was a strange look on her face.

"Another one of your many relatives?" I asked her quietly.

"Yep. He's a bit of a prat though. Very much like our Uncle Percy, that one." She muttered.

"Uncle Percy?" I said.

"A rather serious and ambitious Uncle of mine with no sense of humour. Mind you, last time he made a joke the person who laughed died half a second later, so perhaps you can't blame him." Lily sighed.

"Are you serious?" I frowned.

"Yep." Lily said glumly.

"You can't be." I said, gaping at her.

"Completely."

"Who was it?" I asked.

"My uncle Fred the first. Percy's brother." She said.

"God, that's terrible." I gasped. Lily nodded. "Fred the first?"

"Well there was Fred and George. Fred died. George got married, had kids. Fred and George," she stopped to point at them sitting across from us, "are his twin sons. He named them Fred and George after him and his own twin. They're just as much trouble, prank everyone within distance, and get in just as many detentions. They are known as Fred and George the second." Lily explained. Twin pranksters? Things around here would be very interesting...

The applause for Louis had pretty much died down, and now the Professor was talking again.

"And the Head Girl is Rachel Kinat, from Hufflepuff." A slightly timid looking stood at over at the Hufflepuff table and smiled shyly as she pushed a long lock of black hair out of her face. We all clapped politely. After Rachel had sat down Professor Rondinio continued.

"I would like to remind all of you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, and that no Zonko's products are allowed in the school. First years are not allowed their own broomsticks and Hogsmeade Village is out of bounds to first and second years. That's about it, I'm afraid. Off to bed you go!" He smiled and clapped his hands, which seemed to make the huge doors open so we could get out. We all got up, and I clasped my hands over my ears in an attempt to block out the noise of wood on stone floor as every got out of their seats. Finally, when most of the screeching was over I relaxed. Lily seemed to be pulling me somewhere, and we came to an older boy and girl that standing outside the hall and calling the Gryffindor first years over. We walked over to them, and were joined by the three other girls, Ebony, Morgan and Shania. Hugo came over with the guys, Aidan, Jamie and two others whose sorting I hadn't really being paying attention to, so I didn't know their names.

"I'm Penny and this is Leonard. We're the Gryffindor prefects, and we are going to show you the common room." Said Penny, fiddling with her dark sandy blonde hair. The boy had short curly that was a dark brown.

"Okay, mes petits amis. Let's go." Said the older boy in French. I noticed that he was wearing a red badge with a golden 'P' on it. The girl had one too. She gave him a glare and motioned for us to follow them up the stairs.

"They aren't that small. And just because you hang out with Louis doesn't mean that you can speak French well." She told him. We followed them up many flights of stairs, stairs that I soon became wary of the moment I realised that they shifted constantly.

"Oh, watch out for that step there. It's a fake, and you don't want to get stuck. Just jump over it." Penny advised us. Lily and I looked at each other, grabbed each other's hands and jumped over it in unison before continuing up the steps. We looked back to see how the others were going. Hugo must have gotten the step wrong, and prepared to jump. He landed on the false step, and we laughed while the other boys tried to pull him out. Eventually we got to the seventh floor, and Penny and Leonard stopped in front of a life sixed portrait of a fat lady in a silk dress. I had already noticed that the portraits moved and talked; as had passed come of the chattier ones had tried to engage us in conversation. She looked at us appraisingly.

"Password?" She asked in a bored tone.

"Ivory Horn." Leonard told her. She nodded, and the picture swung forward to reveal a rounded hole. We climbed through.

"Louis' girlfriend has a thing for unicorns." Penny explained. "He chooses the passwords for the portrait hole." We came into the common room. It was mostly decorated red and gold, and it had comfy looking sofas and a warm fire, and at the end, two staircases. Some people were hanging around in here, but I figured that most of them had gone to bed.

"So this is our totally awesome common room. You get to hang out here at the end of the day, and the password changes every two weeks. You'll be notified. Now off to bed. You have classes first thing tomorrow. The house elves will probably have your timetables on your bed tomorrow morning. Girl's dormitory is on the left, boy ones are on your right." Leonard told us. We walked up the stairs, and into a circular room with five four-poster beds inside. Our luggage was up here, and I saw Mystery's cage on top of my trunk. The room had red and gold decorations just like the common room downstairs. We all chose beds, and Lily and I chose beds next to each other. As we changed into our pajamas, we introduced ourselves.

"I'm Shania West." Shania was tall and pretty with long, glossy strawberry blonde hair that was utterly straight. She smiledat all of us. I had to admit she seemed like a bit of a Miss Popularity, but she was nice.

"Ebony Thomas. Dad's Muggle born. Mum is full wizard." Said Ebony. Her features were striking, with her dark skin and shiny black hair. The elegance of her appearance was slightly ruined when she put on her blue puppy pajamas.

"Morgan Queen. I'm muggle born, so you guys will have to explain quite of a bit of this stuff to me." She said. She was a little plain and her hair was mousy brown, but I immediately liked her.

"Lily Potter. Yes, my dad is the famous Harry Potter, get over it. My mum is Ginny, and she fought with Dad in quite a few of the battles." Lily smiled. I realised it was my turn.

"Sam. Don't have a last name, no matter what the list says. Let's just say I am muggle born, even though really I have no idea. No one knows who my parents are, that's why I don't have a last name." I told the astounded girls. My pajamas were rather sad, just a faded t shirt and grey pants. There was nothing fancy about me except my eyes.

"Whoa! Really?" Ebony asked curiously.

"Yep. I've been stuck in the muggle foster care system my whole life." I said grimly. By now we were all sitting on the end of our beds, ready for a whole night of probably talking and no sleep.

"What's it like? I mean I know they are supposed to be awful." Morgan asked.

"You are normally at the group home, which is terrible. All the older kids pick on the little ones, and if you try and stop them, they'll get you too. Stubbs hated me. I always stopped him hurting the little ones. We've been in so many fights that I lost count years ago. I normally lose, just because he's got his own gang, right? But sometimes I win. That was the first thing Professor Rondinio saw me do, you know that? Smash Stubbs face in." I told them. Everyone thought that was funny.

"Seriously? Like, 'oh-yeah-I-know-you-need-to-tell-me-I'm-a-witch-and-invited-to-this-fancy-magical-school-but-hang-I-just-have-to-give-this-guy-a-black-eye-I'll-be-with-you-in-a-second', sort of thing?" Shania give my words a funny voice and a hilarious expression on her face as she acted it out, and we all couldn't help snorting into our pillows.

"Something like that. Well, I didn't actually know he was there. But the chick was supposed to be looking after us was yelling at us to stop fighting, and when she finally got there and the fight broke up, she's all like, 'Sam, there is someone here to see you'. I was covered in bruises, had blood all over my face and all through my mouth and lips, and I was just thinking like, 'oh, okay, can you just wait for me to spit this into the sink and wash my face so I don't look like I have just come out of a messed up horror movie?'. I probably wasn't what he was expecting, but it was a brutal fight." I laughed and so did Morgan, but the other three didn't.

"You were that badly beaten up?" Lily asked me. She seemed very concerned, and I was quite touched. I simply nodded, but decided to change the subject.

"So where are you guys all from?" I asked them, and they took the bait. Soon we were chatting about completely innocent things, my past momentarily forgotten, we the Gryffindor girls talked into the night, and I felt for the first time in my life, I would fit in somewhere.

**What did you think? click the little button and let me know!**

**the next two chapters are going to be flashback chapters of the meeting of Professor Rondino (pronounced , ron-dean-O) and Sam when he comes to give her her Hogwarts letter. The first will be from Sam's POV and the other will be of the Professor's POV. So you have that to look forward to. Hopefully I'll update soon, but i'm not sure. Until then, you can make my day by reviewing, and that always gets me to update faster. If i get 6 more reviews, i'll update ASAP. **


	4. I'm a What!

**Well, for this story, the update didn't take that long, did it? Anyway, I was happy because of the reviews, but i really wish more of you could try. Come on guys!**

**Well this is the flashback chapter of Sam meeting Professor Rondino, so i am really interested to know what you think, because the reaction to the 'big news' is always very important, i think. Enjoy!**

"Quit it, Stubbs." I said, not even bothering to look at the fat pig. I heard a thump followed by a small girl's piercing scream which I instantly recognised to be Annie's. I had heard it far too many times.

"Leave her alone!" I turned my head around to yell at him this time. Stubbs dropped the tiny girl and turned to glare at me while Annie ran off as fast as she could, hid under a table nearby and watched in fear.

"You got something to say to me, Sam?" His voice was low and dangerous, and his dark eyes watched me.

"Let me see." I pretended to think as I approached him slowly. "I _could _tell you that you smell like a cow pat. I _could _tell you that you look like the wrong end of a dog, and don't even have the courtesy to have the discipline of one. I _could _tell you that you are a bullying faggot. But perhaps it is just easier to let my fist do the talking." I proceeded to punch him in the face. He roared with fury and hit me back. It quickly turned into an all out brawl, especially when his gang (who up until then had been lingering in the background) got involved. I was surrounded by hulking, violent male teenagers, so I just kicked a couple in the balls and flung a couple of headshots to get some breathing room. The problem with fighting Stubbs was that he had next to no hair, just short stubble of an identifiable colour. I should have known it wouldn't last. Before I knew what was happening, Stubbs had shoved me from behind, and my hands and knees met the floor with a very painful amount of force. But before he could touch me again, I rolled on the floor so that I was behind him, and jumped up. As his head whipped over his shoulder to follow me, I punched him in the eye.

"Oi! Kids, stop it right now! I mean it, break it up!" The authority filled voice of Mrs Hodge was yelling at us, like it always was. As usual, we ignored her and didn't even hesitate in what we were doing for half a second. One of Stubbs' thugs got me from behind, I couldn't be sure but I thought it was Marshall. As I completely trapped in Marshall's (at least I thought it was him) iron hold, Stubbs took this opportunity to punch pretty much any part of me he could reach. He started with my stomach, and I couldn't help but groan every time his fist collided with my abdomen. It was bloody EXCRUTIATING.

"Marshall, Harvey! Put. Her. Down." Came the voice of Mrs Hodge again. "I'm so sorry about this." I heard her say to someone else. Stubbs had moved on to my head and face now. Punch after punch sent bells ringing through my ears, each worse than the last. I licked my lips and tasted the familiar rust and salt flavour that was blood. Because of the trickling sensation that was slowly moving across my lips and cheek from high above, I had a feeling my nose was broken and bleeding too. But as Stubbs fist once more came my way, I felt the hand holding me loose just enough for me to wriggle free, and drop to the ground to avoid getting hit again. Immediately I heard a satisfying crunch which told me Stubbs had accidently smashed in his own guy's nose. I came up a bit so I could get him with some decent hits, and I drove my knee up and sent it right into his groin. I figured that after I drove my elbow backwards into Marshall's gut, if after that I could last a few more seconds, Mrs Hodge would be here to break up the fight. I was right, of course.

"Sam! Boys! Cut it out now. I mean it." She shouted at us, from much closer now. She was practically right next to us. I gave Stubbs one last punch, as hard as I could muster after already fighting, and watched in pleasure as his eyes unfocused for a few seconds and then settled to rest on me again, full of hatred.

"You hurt her again, and it won't be your teeth I'm breaking, it will be your arm." I got right up in his face and stood on my tiptoes to be as level with him as possible. It's didn't make much of a difference, as I still barely came up to his chin. Despite the height difference, I let as much venom seep into my voice as possible and forced him to look me while I gave him my worst glare. For a second, he actually looked kinda scared. Then he replaced it with an ignorant mask, pushed me away roughly and walked away. I pulled the finger at him and watched him and his gang go up one of the staircases.

"Sam! Young lady, you really need to sort out your fighting." Mrs Hodge scolded me, giving me a reprimanding frown.

"And my language, and even my hand gestures. I know, Mrs H." I sighed in exasperation. "And you know that I'm only protecting the little kids. They can't stand up for themselves against bastards like Stubbs. We've had his conversation about a million times. So unless you get to the point, and I'm pretty sure you don't have one, I am going to check on Annie." I had no problems with cutting her off, especially when there others thing that were more important than talking to her that needed doing. However, I was amused by the expression of irritated surprise that she now wore, just like after some of my more outspoken moments. But before I could turn around and leave, she started to talk again.

"Actually Sam, I do." She said seriously. "There is someone here to see you." For the first time I noticed the man standing next to her. My first impression was that he was slightly strange, though I couldn't figure out why. He appeared to be in his twenties, and his light chestnut brown hair wasn't neat, but somehow didn't seem untidy. It flopped over his face a little. He had a light tan and his eyes were a attractive dark green, and watching me with interest.

"Are you lost?" I asked incredulously. He laughed good naturedly, and flashed me a white smile. He seemed a bit too perfect, but I couldn't bring myself to dislike him for it for some reason.

"No. You're Sam, right?" He asked kindly.

"The one and only." I sighed. "So, um, can I ask-"I would have finished the sentence, but something small had tackled my midsection. I looked down to discover it was Annie.

"Hey, Annie." I scooped her up settled her on my hip. She was very small and light for a five year old. She leaned against my shoulder.

"Thanks." She whispered.

"For what, sweetie?" I asked her gently.

"For fighting Stubbs." She said with a teeny tiny lisp that was adorable. She looked at me and the cutest little frown crossed her face. She gently touched her fingers to my lips and when she pulled them away, the tips of them were red.

"He hurt you." Her voice was surprised, and her chocolate brown eyes were sad.

"I'm fine. I'm worried about you though. Did he hurt you?" I pushed her long black hair out of her face and looked her over for injuries. She seemed okay, thank god. She shook her head and smiled at me. I wiped my mouth to remove as much blood as I could off the surface before kissing her forehead. I stopped myself from cursing just in time when I left a red smear across her brow. Oops. I got Annie to lick my finger so I could rub it off hastily.

"So, what is going then?" I turned back to the strange man. I really had no idea what this could be about.

"Mrs Hodge said that the two of us could talk upstairs." He suggested smoothly.

"Um, okay." I said slowly, thinking it was all a bit weird. He nodded and smiled. I had a feeling that he was waiting for me to show him where to go, so I headed for the nearest set of stairs.

"Are we showing him our room?" Annie breathed the question in my ear as I turned around on the second step up, and looked at the man whose eyes were flickering between me and the child in my arms with an expression of nervousness and concern.

"Are you bringing the child with you?" He asked.

"Of course." I rolled my eyes as if it were plainly obvious.

"Perhaps you should leave her down here." Mrs Hodge offered calmly, but she sneaked a quick glance at me to see how I would react, like she thought I was going to get annoyed. I wasn't, just confused.

"I don't mean to be demanding, but I must ask that the girl stays downstairs. I must speak to Sam, and Sam alone." He looked apologetic, but I also got this vibe from him that I would never be able to argue with this guy and come anywhere near winning. It was a very new feeling to me, and I wasn't sure I liked it.

"Okay." I shrugged. I wasn't really that bothered, I just didn't like leaving Annie by herself. Ever since she had turned up here 3 years ago, we had forged an unbreakable bond. Even though I had occasionally been sent away to foster homes, I had always come back to find her there waiting for me. She almost never got sent away anyway. Most of the people who would have been interested were scared off by me, my mouth and my eyes. So we were like sisters, and she was the only person in the world I cared about. But I knew she would be fine, as long as this 'meeting thing' with...the guy whose name I didn't even know didn't take ages. I put Annie down. "This won't take long, I'll be back soon."

"Kay." Annie said, and ran off." I motioned to the stranger who for some reason needed to speak to me and he followed me up the stairs and into the Unisex bathrooms.

"Hang on a sec." I told him, and could feel his eyes on me as I spat blood into the sink ad washed it away. After rinsing my mouth out I led him along the corridor until we got to the door of the room I shared with Annie and some other kid whose name I couldn't remember. I held it open for the 'mystery guy'. "After you." I mumbled. He smiled warmly and walked through. I followed him and sat down on my bed. "You can sit down if you want." I told him. He lowered himself onto the bed that Annie used on the rare occasions she didn't just crawl into mine.

"Thank you." He said.

"For a start, what's your name? And what exactly did you want to talk to me about? You're really strange." I asked him, and scowled when he chuckled.

"My name is Professor Liam Rondino, and I definitely not normal by your standards. But what specifically were you referring to?" He inquired.

"Professor?" I echoed. The word was strange.

"Yes."

"Okay. Well, for a start, you're nice to me._ No_ one is nice to me, and especially not people like you. It just isn't normal, how you act." I said offhandedly.

"People like me?" He repeated, smiling.

"Yeah. You know, adults who are all rich and successful. Or just any adults, really. Adults don't like me because I scare them. I look at them and my eyes freak them out. They treat me like dirt and wonder how someone so young could have so much anger. They think they don't like me because I am bad tempered and violent, and that I don't have any manners and don't know what polite is."

"You think they are wrong." It was not a question.

"They're scared of me. I don't know why. They don't even know why. Some of them don't even realise that they are. There's something about me that repels people. Annie is the only person who cares about me, and vice versa. So why aren't you scared? You're curious about me, and intrigued for some strange reason, but you are not scared. Why?" I asked him.

"It takes a lot to scare me, Sam. That you will learn." He said, his voice the most serious it had been yet. "You are very perceptive, you know. You aren't savage, nor dangerous, at least not in the way they think." He added as I rolled my eyes. "You could tell that I am studying you, which I am."

"Why? Why even be interested in me at all? Are you some sort of therapist? Because I'm not interested." I huffed.

"No. I'm a teacher." He assured me, and I relaxed a little.

"Why is a teacher like you talking to me? I never stuck around in school long enough to get particularly good at anything. It wasn't like the work was hard, but I just always moved around." I said.

"I want to offer you a place at my school." Professor Rondino said simply. My brain stopped coming up with ideas and I just stared at him.

"Why me? I'm nothing special."I informed him, frowning and trying to figure out what his game was. He couldn't be serious, could he?

"If only you knew." He said quietly, and shook his head. "Hogwarts is a very different sort of school than one you would be used to, Sam." He looked me in the eye.

"What do you mean by different?" I asked suspiciously. His eyes twinkled.

"This is always the tricky part, of course." He said vaguely, almost as if he was talking to himself. He pulled out a fancy looking stick and pointed it at the door. "Silencio!" He said firmly. This took me by complete surprise, and had me thinking i had got him all wrong. He wasn't some fancy teacher, he was some kind of magic fantasy freak. I found myself shuffling backwards on the bed a little.

"What the heck did you just do? Is that supposed to be a wand or something? See i knew something was up, you're a bloody loony." I said angrily.

"It's just a simply silencing charm, to stop eavesdroppers. Yes, it is a wand, and if you'll give me a minute then I will explain." He said as if nothing significant had happened. "Hogwarts is a school of magic. I'm here to offer you a place there."

"Even if that were true or possible – which by the way it's not – why me?" I asked, still not seeing his angle.

"You're a witch, Sam." He fiddled with the stick in his hands.

"I'm a what?" I asked in confusion.

"You're a witch." He repeated.

"A witch?" I laughed. "What, like magic and brooms and wands?" I made no effort to keep the incredulity out of my voice. "So this is your supposed wand?"

"It _is_ a wand. And essentially yes, magic and brooms is right. Though we are a little different from the general stereotype." Professor Rondino replied smoothly.

"You realise how ridiculous this sounds, right? You can't honestly expect me to believe you." I said sceptically.

"Not at first, but you will. You have to believe in what is right in front of you."

"All I see in front of me is a crazy guy trying to tell me I'm a witch." I told him darkly. My scowl didn't seem to faze him in the slightest.

"I wonder if you will feel bad for calling me crazy once you realise I am telling the truth?" He mused.

"I think you should know that I haven't believed in magic since, well, never. My life has never been happy, or magical or wonderful. It's just been moving from place to place, and always winding up back here. The only person in the world who cares about me is that little girl down there, and she could be taken away from me at any time. No one wants me." I spat angrily.

"We want you, Sam. We want you at Hogwarts, because if you aren't trained properly your power will be out of control."

"There you go again! If you want me to believe any of that bullshit, you will have to prove it." I crossed my arms and waited. He held up the stick (or wand as he insisted on calling it) and pointed it towards a book (the only book I owned and I must have read it so many times it wasn't funny) that was on my side table.

"Snufflifors." He said firmly. I watched in awe as '_Robinson Crusoe' _turned into a little grey mouse.

"But...what did you do?" I whispered. He aimed the wand again, and the mouse turned back into my book.

"Magic. Specifically, transfiguration." The Professor explained, smiling at my probably very surprised face.

"Do it again. Something else." I demanded. It was impossible, but somehow true.

"Accio doll!" He commanded, pointing his wand at Annie's ragdoll on the floor. It came zooming towards him and he caught it in his free hand.

"Believe me now?" He asked.

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" I replied.

"I suppose not." He smirked.

"So tell me about it. This Hogwarts, if I go there, will I learn things like that?" I inquired.

"Yes." He nodded.

"Hang on. Why me? Why are you talking to just me and not everyone here?"

"Because you are the only witch here, just as I am the only wizard. The others are just muggles." He explained, even though I was still confused.

"Muggles?" I echoed in confusion.

"Muggles are non magical people."

"Ah. And I'm not, so therefore a witch. Who can do magic. Right." Trying to make sense of it all wasn't easy, but I was getting there. "But back to my first question. Why me? Why not them?"

"Because you are special." He said softly.

"But why?" I repeated, growing increasingly agitated.

"Who were your parents?" He asked quickly.

"I have no idea." I said flatly.

"What were their names? What is your last name?" He seemed to be getting worked up as well. "Why didn't it show up on the list?"

"I'm telling you I don't know!" I shouted angrily.

"How you do not know?" He whispered, suddenly completely calm again.

"I found on a doorstep of an orphanage, with nothing but a tiny piece of paper that said _'Her name is Sam'_. I was only a week old. No one knows who my parents were or anything about them at all. They could be dead, and I wouldn't know or care. Like I said, no one wants me. Not even my own fucking parents." I said bitterly.

"Oh. I'm sorry you never knew them." He said quietly.

"I don't think I want to." The truth was, I really didn't know them.

"Well, I think I should give you this." Professor Rondino placed the doll on the nearest bed. Then he dug in his pockets and pulled out a letter, which he proceeded to hold out to me.

"What is it?" I took it from his hand and examined it.

"Your Hogwarts letter." He said. I opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment, which I didn't even know people still used anymore.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Liam Rondino_

_(Order of Merlin: First Class)_

_Dear Miss Sam,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl no later than 31 July._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Neville Longbottom_

_Deputy Headmaster_

"Whoa." I said, rereading the letter. "Hang on. They 'await my owl'?"

"Oh, that is how we communicate. Owl Post. But I'll take care of that for you. That is, if you accept. So, Sam. Do you want to come?"

"Of course I do! I hate it here. This isn't a life, maybe I am headed to where I can have one. Please, can I go?" I couldn't help my enthusiasm. I was actually going to get out of here.

"Of course you can. That's why I'm here." He laughed.

"Thank you. Thanks so much." I said. It was probably one of the first times in my life I had ever said thank you, mainly just because no one ever did anything for me. I slide out the other piece of paper that had been in the envelope and scanned it quickly.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Uniform_

First Year Students will require:

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) _

_Set Books_

_All students should have a copy of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade One) _by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Draughts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble

_Other Equipment:_

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set of brass scales

_Students may bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

"A cauldron? A wand? Where are we going to get all this? Surely you can't get things like this in London." I exclaimed in surprise.

"I think you will find that you can get almost anything in London, if you know where to go." The Professor said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Yes!" I said excitedly, and then remembered my manners. "I mean, yes please." The Professor laughed again at my enthusiasm. He crossed the room and held the door open for me.

"Well then, shall we?"

**So, what did you think? Love it, hate it, just leave a review and let me know. I love hearing from you guys, and without reviews i become very sad...and we wouldn't want that now would we? ;-)**

**Don't forget, next chapter is Professor Rondino's POV of the meeting. What will he think of the strange violet eyed girl, so full of anger and hatred and violence?**


	5. The Angry Child

**Okay, I know it has been ages since I have updated, but I have been busy. This is a slightly lower priority fic on my list (sometimes), and there isn't much I can do about that. Thank you to all those you have reviewed this story so far, particularly toavoidconversation. It means so much, and the reviews bright my day completely. **

**By the way, i have changed some dialogue in this chapter, and the other chapter has been edited to match it. Just by the way. **

**And don't forget that this is Professor Rondinio's POV of the first time he meets Sam. **

**On to the story!**

******~Professor Rondinio's POV~******

I had been the Headmaster for five years now. After the war, Minerva McGonagall had returned to her old post as Headmistress, and it wasn't until sixteen years later that she decided to retire. I had taken up the role of Transfiguration teacher a year before that, and when she retired, she suggested I take her place. It was not only I that was shocked.

The media had a field day on it, and half the ministry was in an uproar at the thought of a 24 year old becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts. The other half knew of my ability, boasting that my talents to rival Dumbledore himself, a statement that always made my cheeks turn a bright red that clashed horribly with my hair. However, the nation soon accepted that I was fit for the position.

My first act as Headmaster was to hire her great nephew Timothy – who was famed to have inherited his great aunt's talents – as the new Transfiguration teacher.

I certainly had my hands full, since there were Weasley's to chase down for numerous crimes, and eventually the son of the famous Harry Potter joined in their antics, though luckily I only had to deal with their more serious broken rules. I was thankful that Potter's youngest son had a slightly better idea of how to stay out of trouble than his older brother.

Although it was not necessarily the Headmaster's job, we were occasionally expected to help with the informing of the families of young muggle born witches and wizards. Since one of the children on this year's list was an orphan, I had agreed to take on the job. The other reason for my doing it was that it was a rather strange case. On the list, it had given no last name, simply stating Sam. Using a very complex and difficult spell I managed to trace it and it gave me a location where I could find the child, which of course was how we discovered they were in fact muggle born and an orphan in the first place. However, since the name Sam was so vague, I was not even aware of the child's gender.

So, as I apparated outside the building, I hoped that nothing went wrong. I wasn't known for saying stupid things at the wrong time, but I was very reliant on the fact that there is a first time for everything. Thankfully, muggle clothing was not something I particularly struggled with, and was fairly sure my pinstripe suit was acceptable, although it had taken me a while to find a place to hide my wand.

I walked into the building and couldn't help feeling out of place. The small room inside had two sets of doors, one that said 'STAIRS', and another which seemed to have a rather large amount of noise coming from the other side. The small reception desk was occupied by a woman in her late forties with a rather unflattering red perm, a dress suit and a tired expression. She glanced up and did a double take when she saw me.

"Good morning." I said politely, and walked over to the cluttered desk.

"I suppose it is. Vivian Hodge. How can I help you, sir?" she asked, still quite surprised but clearly pleased by my presence.

"I'm looking for someone. Sam?" I enquired. Something flashed in her eyes.

"We have a Samuel Brown," She informed me stiffly, "and Sam, just Sam."

"I think it is Sam I am looking for." I said, and her frown suggested she had been afraid I was going to say that.

"Whatever has she done now?" Vivian Hodge groaned.

So Sam was a female. Now I was getting somewhere.

Although, before I was able to explain that Sam had done nothing wrong, the woman went on in a slightly panicked and flustered tone. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry! We try to keep her under control. She can be good when she wants to be, but she's so..." She seemed like she could have gone on for quite a while, but I cut her off, as I had learned enough. This Sam, whoever she was, was a troublemaker.

"She isn't in trouble, and she hasn't done anything wrong." I reassured her calmly. Vivian froze and lapsed into an embarrassed silence. "I just need to let her know her options."

"Options for what? Who are you, and what exactly do you do?" She asked, as if she found it hard to believe Sam had options.

"My name is Professor Liam Rondinio and I am here to offer Sam a place at my school." I said pleasantly.

"Are you sure?" She said uneasily, looking at me as if she thought there was a possibility I was joking.

"She is eleven, is she not?" I said, amused.

"Yes, but-" She started.

"Then I am most certainly sure." I confirmed. After closing her mouth abruptly and rising from her seat , she lead me to the doors. We walked into a large room (it looked like it used to be an old warehouse) with a high ceiling and second story walkway that looked like it led to bedrooms and bathrooms. There were children and teenagers scattered across the room, running, yelling, some merely sitting on battered sofas while others lounged on the floor, most of the children preoccupied by something or someone, though some merely looked bored and stared into space.

"She'll be somewhere around here. Perhaps...oh no." Ms Hodge groaned, and I followed her gaze to a commotion that had broken out on the other side of the huge room. It was four against one, with hulking teenagers picking on a small blonde boy who appeared to be doing a very good job of standing his ground. I had never really participated in muggle duelling (at least not in this extreme, and not since my school days), but I could see that the young boy was an experienced fighter. "Oi! Kids, stop it right now! I mean it, break it up." Ms Hodge yelled at them, picking up her pace but not able to move extremely quickly in stilettos, forced to adapt to a strange but brisk hobble.

None of them even looked at her, let alone cease their fighting. One of the big guys got the blonde by the arms and held him back while another (I had a feeling he was the leader of the 'gang', as I was good at picking up such things) punched the little guy anywhere he could reach. I could faintly hear the groans that came out each time he got hit in the stomach, though I was impressed by how staunch he was.

"Marshal, Harvey! Put. Her. Down." The next command was ignored once again by those fighting, but had a very powerful effect on me.

I felt my heart stop as I realised the short haired blonde I had so quickly assumed was a boy was actually a girl. A girl who was being brutally hit straight in the head by someone at least three years older than her. I couldn't help but cringe every time the fist met her head.

"I'm so sorry about this." Ms Hodge said to me quickly. I said nothing, as the girl's mouth and nose were bleeding heavily and I could not help but worry for her. Suddenly she broke free and hit the ground as the punch that had been meant for her own head collided with that of the boy who had been holding her. The girl kneed the leader in the groin while the other three tried to catch her. She dodged out of each of their grasps, almost dancing in the agile way she moved. She elbowed the boy who had been behind her, which judging by his reaction had been a very well aimed shot. "Sam, boys! Cut it out. I mean it." We were now at the scene, and she looked about ready to pull them all apart.

That was when it hit me.

Sam.

This was not just a girl, a girl who was an incredibly talented fighter and was able to withstand almost anything those boys threw at her, it was the girl.

The girl I was to enrol at Hogwarts, was the same one who was now sending a punch to the Leader's head one last time. I had known it was going to be difficult, but this was something else entirely. However, there was a chance she was a perfectly nice child, who was simply using self defence.

"You hurt her again, and it won't be your nose I'm breaking, it will be your arms." Sam rose to her full height, which was not as impressive as she probably had hoped, but her tone almost had be scared. The boy opposite her did look scared for a moment under her murderous glare, but then he just sneered and pushed her away. As he walked away from her, she pulled a finger salute to his back.

Well, I think that was her unknowingly throwing my 'chance' out of this window and all the way to Hogwarts itself, as I had no doubt she would not have hesitated to pull it to his face as well.

"Sam. Young lady, you really need to sort out your fighting." Ms Hodge reprimanded her. Sam turned to face us properly for the first time. Her blonde pixie cut was spiked up as much as the short pieces of hair could, and her shocking eyes of bright violet that almost seemed to glow held anger while somehow also managing to look bored. I found it hard to make a general opinion on her appearance because of the blood surrounding her mouth and underneath her nose, though there was also a small drip slowly working its way down the side of her face from somewhere on the stop of her head.

"And my language, and even my hand gestures. I know, Mrs H." Sam said, looking as though she had heard it all before, and probably had. She bent over slightly and rubbed at the blood around her mouth with the bottom of her faded t-shirt before bringing her head back up. "And you know I only do it to protect the little kids. They can't stand up for themselves against bastards like Stubbs. We've had this conversation a million times. So unless you get to the point – and I'm pretty sure you don't have one – I'm going to check on Annie."

"Actually Sam, I do." Mrs Hodge said to her, and I knew by that she meant me. "There is someone here to see you." Sam's violet eyes fell on me for the first time. They scanned me all over, taking in my appearance and attire.

"Are you lost?" She asked in disbelieving confusion. I laughed, for something about the child seemed bright, despite evidence to the contrary.

"No. You're Sam, right?" I said, smiling.

"The one and only." She sighed. "So, um, can I ask-" Before she could finish her sentence a small child had thrown itself at her legs and started hugging her middle, a small girl with silky and incredibly dark (almost black) long hair, wearing jeans that looked too big for her and a green jumper. The moment Sam saw the child, her face softened slightly in a way I had yet to see, and she scooped the girl into her arms, and the girl leant into her. "Hey, Annie."

The little girl whispered something to Sam that sounded like 'thanks'.

"For what, sweetie?" Sam asked, and the word sweetie sounded slightly strange coming from her still rather blood covered mouth.

"For fighting Stubbs." Annie said, and put a finger to the other girl's lips and it came away with blood on it. "He hurt you."

"I'm fine. I'm worried about you though. Did he hurt you?" Sam asked her, looking her over for injuries and looked relieved when the child chook her head. Sam wiped her mouth again and kissed the child's forehead before trying to remove the small red mark that she had made. "So what's going on then?" This question was addressed to me.

"Mrs Hodge said that we could speak upstairs." I told her. She agreed and I nodded, waiting for her to show me the way, as I had no idea where to go. I realised she was intending to bring the child with her, and after a small discussion, the child was left downstairs. To my slight surprise, Sam led me into the unisex toilets, but I soon realised it was to spit out the blood and wash her face more than anything. She walked back out and down the corridor before opening a door for me and waiting for me to go in.

"After you." She said dryly, proving to me –without realising it - she still had potential to be a nice person. As we walked in, she gestured to one of the beds. "You can sit down, if you want."

"Thank you." I said as she sat down on one and I sat on the one next to her.

"For a start, what's your name? And what exactly did you want to talk to me about? You're really strange." She said, and when I chuckled at the way she saw me she scowled.

"My name is Professor Liam Rondinio, and I definitely not normal by your standards. But what specifically were you referring to?" I explained.

"Professor?" Sam repeated, a question in her voice.

"Yes."

"Okay. Well, for a start, you're nice to me. No one is nice to me, and especially not people like you. It just isn't normal, how you act." Her tone was bitter, but the things she said caught me.

"People like me?" I could help but smile. She didn't even know who I was and could already place me in some different category.

"Yeah. You know, adults who are all rich and successful. Or just any adults, really. Adults don't like me because I scare them. I look at them and my eyes freak them out. They treat me like dirt and wonder how someone so young could have so much anger. They think they don't like me because I am bad tempered and violent, and they think that I don't have any manners and don't know what polite is." Sam elaborated, her ever-present frown still extending its appearance. I felt sympathy for her, as she seemed to be a very misunderstood child.

"You think they are wrong." I observed, knowing she did already but wanting to hear her confirm it.

"They're scared of me. I don't know why. They don't even know why. Some of them don't even realise that they are. There's something about me that repels people. Annie is the only person who cares about me, and vice versa. So why aren't you scared? You're curious about me, and intrigued for some strange reason, but you are not scared. Why?" She asked.

"It takes a lot to scare me, Sam." This was true. I may have been far too young to fight in the war, but there were still evils in this world that was not Voldemort, creatures that had to contained and defeated before they could hurt anyone. "That you will learn. You are very perceptive, you know. You aren't savage, or dangerous, at least not in the way they think. You could also tell I was studying you, which I was."

"Why? Why even be interested in me at all? Are you some kind of therapist? Because I'm not interested." Sam said flatly, crossing her arms and glaring.

"No. I'm a teacher." I said calmly, and could see her relax a bit, though could also see in her eyes that she thought it made even less sense now.

"Why is a teacher like you talking to me? I never stuck around in school long enough to get particularly good at anything. It wasn't like the work was hard, but I just always moved around." She said indignantly, clearly not thinking either of us were worthy of each other's time.

"I want to offer you a place at my school," I said, and this time she just stared at me.

"Why me? I'm nothing special." She said, and frowned, as though she didn't entirely trust me.

"If only you knew." I shook my head. "Hogwarts is a very special kind of school than one you would be used to, Sam." Our eyes met and hers narrowed slightly.

"What do you mean by different?" She asked, the suspicion clear in her voice. I couldn't help but feel the pleasant anticipation that I got whenever I had to tell someone about the world they were so totally oblivious to.

"This is always the tricky part, of course." I said, but was afraid to say more; knowing any one of the children from this place could be listening outside the door. Being careful was worth keeping the secret from the muggles. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the door. "Silencio!"

"What the heck did you just do? Is that supposed to be a wand or something? See, I knew something was up, you're a bloddy loony." Sam said, leaning away just slightly.

"It's just a simply silencing charm, to stop eavesdroppers. Yes, it is a wand, and if you'll give me a minute then I will explain." I said calmy, ignoring the glare she was giving me. "Hogwarts is a school of magic. I'm here to offer you a place there."

"Even if that were true or possible – which by the way it's not – why me?"

"You're a witch, Sam."

"A witch? What, like magic and brooms and wands?" Her voice was incredulous, and she didn't make any attempt to stifle her disbelieving laughter. "So this is your supposed wand?"

"It _is_ a wand. And essentially yes, magic and brooms is right. Though we are a little different from the general stereotype." I told her, but actually, when I thought about it, the only differences is that we didn't have black cats (at least, not all of us) and warts on our noses.

"You realise how ridiculous this sounds, right? You can't honestly expect me to believe you." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Not at first, but you will. You have to believe in what is right in front of you."

"All I see in front of me is a crazy guy trying to tell me I'm a witch." She replied flatly. She was scowling at me again, but I was not bothered by it.

"I wonder if you will feel bad for calling me crazy once you realise I am telling the truth?" I wondered aloud, and personally thought if I had judged her character right (and I was a fairly good judge of character) then she would not.

"I think you should know that I haven't believed in magic since, well, never. My life has never been happy, or magical or wonderful. It's just been moving from place to place, and always winding up back here. The only person in the world who cares about me is that little girl down there, and she could be taken away from me at any time. No one wants me." Her words saddened me slightly, but one of the finest wizards in history (also the finest wizard I had ever met) had had an incredibly similar – if not worse – upbringing. She would learn it was possible to be great just by being the person you are meant to be.

"We want you, Sam. We want you at Hogwarts, because if you aren't trained properly your power will be out of control." I tried to assure her, but my words only made her angrier. She was a stubborn girl, and her harsh life so far had hardened her, on the outside at the very least.

"There you go again! If you want me to believe any of that bullshit, you will have to prove it." She burst out, crossing her arms and waiting with an impatient air about her.

"Snufflifors." I said, pointing the book on the bedside table, and smiled when Sam stared in awe at the twitching nose of the mouse.

"But...what did you do?" She said in confusion, her voice finally lowered back to an acceptable volume.

"Magic. Specifically, transfiguration."

"Do it again. Something else." She demanded immediately, and I could see in her eyes that she was starting to believe me. I used a summoning spell to summon the doll on the other end of the room and catch it.

"Believe me now?" I asked, putting the doll on the bed next to me.

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" She retorted, but I could see she wasn't annoyed despite her harsh tone.

"I suppose not." I said.

"So tell me about it. This Hogwarts, if I go there, will I learn things like that?" Sam inquired.

"Yes." I nodded.

"Hang on. Why me? Why are you talking to just me and not everyone here?"

"Because you are the only witch here, just as I am the only wizard. The others are just muggles."

"Muggles?" She tried out the new word, and seemed confused by it.

"Muggles are non magical people." I explained.

"Ah. And I'm not, so therefore a witch. Who can do magic. Right. But back to my first question. Why me? Why not them?"

"Because you are special." I said softly, knowing there was no other way to explain how some muggles families got the magic gene and others didn't.

"But why?" Sam seemed to be getting annoyed again now, as if I was purposely trying to avoid the question.

"Who were your parents?" I asked her, partly to distract her and partly to answer her question.

"I have no idea." She said darkly, and the refined but obvious held back expression told me this was a slightly touchy subject.

"What were their names? What is your last name?" I pressed her, getting a little too forceful, but desperate to know how the list at Hogwarts had not been able to find her a last name. "Why didn't it show up on the list?"

"I'm telling you I don't know!" She shouted, bristling with anger. I managed to break out of my slight lapse in composure and process her words.

"How you do not know?" My voice was soft and confused.

"I found on a doorstep of an orphanage, with nothing but a tiny piece of paper that said _'Her name is Sam'_. I was only a week old. No one knows who my parents were or anything about them at all. They could be dead, and I wouldn't know or care. Like I said, no one wants me. Not even my own fucking parents." She muttered. I did not approve of her language, but was not insulted or irritated by it like most teachers were.

"Oh. I'm sorry you never knew them." There was not much one could say to such a statement.

"I don't think I want to."

"Well, I think I should give you this." I gave her the Hogwarts letter.

"What is it?" She took it and examined the seal on the back, red inky and stamped.

"Your Hogwarts letter." I said. She opened the letter and read it.

"Whoa. Hang on. They 'await my owl'?" She said, her face slightly screwed up with a confused frown.

"Oh, that is how we communicate. Owl Post. But I'll take care of that for you. That is, if you accept. So, Sam. Do you want to come?"

"Of course I do! I hate it here. This isn't a life, maybe I am headed to where I can have one. Please, can I go?" She said eagerly, for the first time seeming childlike in her eagerness. It was pleasing to see even a drop of such innocence in her.

"Of course you can. That's why I'm here." I laughed good-naturedly.

"Thank you. Thanks so much." She said gratefully, giving me a genuine smile for the first time, one that shone.

"A cauldron? A wand? Where are we going to get all this? Surely you can't get things like this in London." She said, reading the list of school supplies.

"I think you will find that you can get almost anything in London, if you know where to go." I said, and smiled at her warmly. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Yes!" She said, her violet eyes lighting up even more. "I mean, yes please." I laughed again, the life in her eyes completely charming. I crossed the room and held the door open for her.

"Well then, shall we?"


	6. Diagon Alley

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! I'm sorry if the repeated POV's were boring (and I know they are for some of you), but Rondinio (along with Lily) is one of the most important people in this story and I wanted to show his thoughts of her when they first met, as I did with Lily. Hopefully there will be no more repeats. **

**This is the last of the flashbacks, the next chapter will go back to present day, on Sam's first day of classes. **

******~Sam's POV~******

We walked out onto the street, my Hogwarts letter and stationery list in my jeans pocket.

"How are we going to get there?" I asked him.

"You're too young for side along apparation." Professor Rondinio said thoughtfully. "We'll have to take the Knight Bus."

"The Night Bus? But it's daytime." I said.

"No, the Knight Bus, with a 'K'." He laughed, and stuck the hand holding his wand out in the direction of the road.

Suddenly, a huge purple triple decker bus pulled up with a jerk, faster than any bus I had ever seen before.

"Whoa." I said. The Professor smiled and stepped onto the bus, and I followed. A man in his forties approached us eagerly.

" 'Allo Professor!" He said, and his eyes flicked to me. "Doin' the muggle born newbie run are ya?"

"Yes. Two seats, please Stan. We're going to the Leaky Cauldron." The man called Stan opened his mouth, and Rondinio added, "No extras." Stan looked slightly disappointed but nodded and held out his hand. Rondinio reached into his pocket and gave Stan a handful of silver coins that looked completely different to any coins I had ever seen. Rondinio led me down the bus and we sat down on some seats at the back, not too far from a pair of grumbling old women wearing strange robes of some kind.

"What were those coins you gave him?" I asked Rondinio as we sat down.

"They were sickles. There are Galleons, they're the gold ones. Then there are the silver sickles and Bronze knuts. Twenty nine knuts to a sickle and seventeen sickles to a Galleon." He explained, and I raised an eyebrow at the stupid conversions.

"I think I prefer the decimal system." I muttered. Suddenly a chilling thought occurred to me. "I don't have any money! How am I going to buy all the stuff on the list?"

"There is a fund that is available to you." Rondinio said calmly despite my slight amount of worry, considering I would never really panic properly, mainly because it was rather babyish.

"Charity, brilliant." I mumbled bitterly, but relief coursed through me nevertheless. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small round bag that made a noise when it was moved. I knew the sound well; it was the sound of money.

The bus jerked as it started, and it drove so recklessly and at such a ridiculous speed that we (that is, all of the passengers) fell off our chairs.

I swore in surprise the first time. While most tried to pick theirs up, I simply did my best to cross over to the wall and sit down, finding some stability while avoiding the crazy chairs. After a couple of stops, Rondinio looked around and I realised he was looking for me so I got up and made my way over to him.

"This is our stop, and this is yours." He said, pressing the bag of money into my hand and walking towards the door. I walked down the aisle, not sad to be getting off the ridiculous vehicle. Rondinio walked a little way down the street and I hurried to catch up with him. He opened a door that I hadn't noticed before in my entire life, and we walked inside.

It was a bar, with a strange looking bar tender and more of the strangely dressed people drinking various drinks. I was starting to get the idea that this was what witches and wizards wore, and this was confirmed when Rondinio took his jacket off and asked the barman for his robes, which he had apparently left there for pick up at this time. The barman handed over a silky purple garment and Rondinio put it on quickly before gesturing me to follow him as he exited through another door into what looked like the little bit out back where you store rubbish bins.

"What are we doing out here?" I asked, wondering just how much stranger things could get.

"Just wait and see," Professor Rondinio said calmly, pointing his wand at the brick wall.

I watched in shocked awe as the brick moved and changed until we stood before a brick arch. We walked through it into a busy street, full of robe wearing people with various packages under their arms.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley." Rondinio said. "This is where you'll get all your things."

"It looks awesome. What do I get first?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Perhaps a trunk so we can put your supplies in it once we have over-loaded our hands." Rondinio suggested, and I nodded. We set off down the street.

After we had the trunk we tried the robe shop, 'Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'.

"Hello!" Said an elderly woman at the other end of the shop, looking up from the robes of someone she was measuring. "I'll be with you in one moment, young man. Just come and stand on this stool. Hogwarts, yes?" I looked up at Rondinio and he nodded, taking my trunk. I walked slowly up to stand on the stool next to another blonde girl who was an inch or two taller than me. She looked at me with interest.

"First year?" She asked.

"Yep." I said, popping the 'P'.

"Me too. I'm Tessa. Tessa Scamander." She said, holding out her hand. I shook it, wondering where I had heard the name Scamander before.

"Sam. No last name." I replied. She smiled.

"Must be a lot less confusing not to have a last name. Is it, Sam?" Tessa asked, and I thought about it.

"Sort of. But you get all those annoying people who keep saying that I have to have a last name and they always badger me." I said irritably.

"They just need to be more open-minded, like my mum. She takes us camping every year in the summer to look for Crumple Horned Snortacks." Tessa said seriously, and I had no idea if she was joking or not. The name sounded ridiculous, but I had no knowledge of this world so I thought it was just best to nod. "I think there is a chance they might not exist, but she always says that unless you can prove it doesn't exist, then there is a chance it can. Either way, it's quite fun." She shrugged.

"Tessa, is that your name?" Rondinio's voice came from the door of the shop. He walked towards us.

"Yes, sir. Oh my gosh, you're Professor Rondinio, the Headmaster! It's very nice to meet you sir." She said politely with a huge smile. He nodded with a smile of his own, studying her face.

"Your mother, would she be Luna Scamander, previously Luna Lovegood?" Rondinio asked, and Tessa nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, that's Mum. Do you know her?" She said.

"Not personally, but I have heard of her. She is quite well known for her interest in the areas many refuse to believe in." Rondinio said with a smile. To me it sounded like a polite way of saying that she believed in things no one else did, possibly chasing after non-existent Snortacks, or whatever they were called.

"She's very open minded." Tessa said with a knowing smile.

"All done dear," The old lady said to her, and Tessa hopped off the stool.

"Nice to meet you both. See you at Hogwarts!" She said happily, waving before running out of the shop with the bundle under her arm.

"Sam needs second-hand robes," Rondinio said to the woman running the shop. She eyed my old t-shirt and nodded before bustling off and coming back with an armful of fabric.

"I am sorry for calling you a young man before," Said the woman, beginning to pin black robes on me. "But my eyesight is not what it used to be, and with that hair of yours…" She looked up momentarily from her work to eye it with disapproval, and I scowled at her, making her recoil and get back to work.

Once I had my robes, the fun began. I had bought all the other clothing I needed from the robe shop, and after that I bought a cauldron, which was more than half the size of the ones you saw on stupid movies with witches, but it was easy to carry. It had been used before, but the previous owner had wanted a larger one and returned it to the shop after only three weeks of owning it. This meant I didn't have to pay nearly as much. In the same shop I also purchased a telescope, brass scales and glass phials.

"I need all those books," I said, looking at the list. "Hey, Scamander! I knew I recognised the name. Tessa has the same last name as the guy who wrote this book."

"Her father was Rolf Scamander, a descendant of Newton. Do you want an ice cream?" Rondinio said, and I looked over to the ice parlour, and bit my lip in indecision, not wanting to seem greedy, but then my stomach rumbled. Rondinio chuckled at the sound and started to walk over, carrying the trunk already partially full with my stuff. I ordered an orange chocolate chip with caramel and chocolate sauce, and chopped nuts, planning on paying for it myself, but after ordering his own, Rondinio insisted on paying for both. We sat at one of the outside tables, licking our ice creams contently.

"How can you eat that? It looks disgusting!" I said, eyeing his double scoop half Moccachino and half lime ice cream, complete with strawberry sauce and some sort of chilli powder.

He merely smirked and took a particularly large bite, just to aggravate me. I finished mine before he had even gotten halfway. I went off to get the textbooks, and also bought some parchment, and he was finishing off the cone when I came back.

"Go to Ollivander's. You can get your wand from there." He said. My eyes wandered to the shop he was gesturing to and I nodded.

I walked inside the dimly lit shop. There was a very old man sitting on a chair next to the counter.

"Are you Ollivander?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Yes. But you'll want my apprentice, Jeff." He said gruffly. "Have I seen you in here before? Or a member of your family?" I shook my head.

"No family." I said. He studied me, and I felt like he was x-raying me.

"Those eyes," He murmured, "Unforgettable. Born for wisdom."

"Okay…" I said, giving him a weird look. Thankfully, a man in his early twenties entered the room from the back. He had almost no hair, just stubble on his head that looked like it was dark red or perhaps brown. His face was heart-shaped, his slightly pointed chin clean shaven.

"Hello! First year at Hogwarts, am I correct?" He said cheerily, his brown eyes kind.

"Yep." I said, looking at the huge range of boxes on the shelves.

"Let's see what we can find you." Jeff said. He studied me for a couple of seconds before climbing a ladder and pulling out a box. He opened it and held it out to me. I took the small black stick from the box and held it awkwardly.

"8 inches, Blackthorne, dragon heartstring." Jeff said. It felt all wrong in my hand, but I didn't want to be rude.

I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I just flicked it cautiously, and nothing happened except a small fizzling noise emitting from the wand.

"Not that one." Jeff said, and I saw Ollivander roll his eyes.

Jeff brought me another wand, one considerably longer and a pretty reddish brown colour.

"12 inches, Cherry, Unicorn Hair." He said. I flicked the wand and some of the shelves of wand boxes collapsed. I swore. Ollivander eyed me with an unfathomable expression. Jeff gave me five more wands to try, and none of them worked. I started thinking perhaps there had been a mistake. What if I wasn't a witch? Jeff looked put out, and Ollivander rolled his eyes again.

"You're giving her the wrong ones. You haven't picked up on the right vibe yet." He said to Jeff with criticism. He slowly got out of his chair, and used his walking stick to go behind the counter and pick out a box. He pulled it out with his free hand and shuffled back to hold it out to me. I took the box gingerly, a feeling of anticipation tearing through me on contact. I opened it and looked at the wand inside. It was not as long as the cherry one and I thought it looked like it was a good length. It was a rich chocolate brown, and when I lifted it out of the box I felt warmth in my fingers.

It felt so _right_. I waved it, and the wand's reaction far exceeded any of the others.

Purple fire sprang from the wand, identical to the colour of my eyes. It danced around me, leaping and spiralling almost as though it was joyful. Jeff watched in awe while Ollivander looked smug, though he too looked amazed by the display. The wisps of fire faded into nothing.

"I'm guessing that means it's the right one." I said dryly.

"I believe you are destined for great things," Ollivander said.

"Why do you say that?" I said warily.

"Your wand is made of Kauri," Ollivander said, but I cut across him.

"KO-RE?" I said, not recognising the name.

"It's a Maori word, Kauri is from New Zealand." Ollivander explained.

"Oh yeah, I think I learnt about them in school once. But why am I destined for great things because I have a wand made from wood from New Zealand?" I tried to not sound sceptical, but it was hard. I was naturally that sort of person.

"Kauri is a particularly picky wood when it comes to wands," said Ollivander, and I wondered how wood could be picky, but kept quiet, "And are among the more rare wands, because they are not made very often because they so seldom pick a wizard."

"Wands pick us?" I asked, and Ollivander nodded seriously.

"Wandlore is a very complex and powerful thing," He said, "but one thing is sure: The wand chooses the wizard. But if the Kauri wand has picked you, then you are something more than ordinary."

"So that's why you think I'm going to do something important." I said, thinking it all sounded too much like guesswork.

"No, merely one factor. Aside from the fact it is ten and a half inches and made of Kauri, the core of your wand is a phoenix feather. Not particularly rare, but many of the greatest wizards in history bore phoenix feather wands, the most recent of which, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort himself. The phoenix who gave the feather for this wand, gave two others. As it happens, I sold one of its brothers just the other day. The other, many years ago to a charming young yap who looked as though he had marvellous potential." Ollivander explained, and I nodded.

"Well I like it." I shrugged. He raised his eyebrow.

"Like it? My dear girl, a wand is an extension of one's arm!" He said indignantly.

"Exactly. I like it." I said flatly, and I saw him internally decide not to try and make me see it like he did.

I saw things my own way, and didn't need anyone else. I paid him twelve galleons for the wand and went back to the ice cream parlour where Rondinio was ready to go with the bags in his hands.

"I tried about eight different ones that didn't like me before I got one that did." I said to him, holding up the box. He held out the trunk and I placed the box inside. "That's everything, right?"

"One more stop." Rondinio said with a smile, and I frowned, sure we had bought everything on the list.

He walked down the street and I followed in confusion, pulling the trunk. We stopped out the Pet Emporium, and walked inside. The shelves were lined with different cats, rats, owls and toads.

"Pick one." Rondinio said simply. I stared at him, wondering if he seriously meant what I thought he meant.

"I'd rather save my money. I don't need a pet." I told him, but he shook his head.

"You told me today that you have no family and that your only friend is Annie. While I'm sure you will make friends at Hogwarts, I believe a companion would be good for you. Saving your money is a good idea, which is why I am paying." Rondinio replied.

After a couple of minutes of arguing and insisting, I finally agreed, mainly because Rondinio said if I didn't he would tip the money it would have cost down the drain.

I walked along the isles, excited despite my initial reluctance. I had always liked animals, but you couldn't have pets at the home. The owls were majestic, and according to Rondinio they carried mail as well. Although I had nothing against them, I was not too keen on getting a rat, and the same went for the toads.

I looked at the cats, all of them interesting. I stopped in front of the cage that had a tiny little black ball in it.

"Hello?" I said, looking at it. It uncurled into one of the small kittens I had ever seen. Stretched out it was smaller than my forearm. Its feet were white, and its back left paw was white halfway up its leg. It turned its head towards me and opened its eyes sleepily.

I blinked. The violet eyes staring intently at me were exactly the same colour as my own. The kitten trotted to the front of the cage, and I put my finger through to stroke it. It purred softly and rubbed against the finger.

"Looks like someone has taken a shine to you." Rondinio said from my left, and I looked at him with a half-smile.

"I guess so." I murmured, and looked back at the cat, which had turned to face Rondinio, who did a double take.

"Sweet Merlin!" He exclaimed, looking between the kitten and I.

"Merlin?" I said sceptically. "Don't tell me he's real too."

"I'll leave it to your History of Magic teacher." Rondinio said with a smile. "Which one are you getting?"

"I think…this one." I said, stroking the kitten again.

"Quite right too." Rondinio said, looking at the kitten with renewed approval. The shopkeeper shuffled up, looking happy.

"Do you want this one?" She asked in a voice that reminded me of gravel. She too noticed the violet eyes the kitten and I shared, and chuckled. "A perfect choice, clearly. These sort of things are never co-incidences. She's a girl, about two months old." She scooped up the kitten and took it to the counter. "That will be 10 galleons." I shifted uncomfortably at the price and decided to wait until we got out of the shop before thanking Rondinio profusely.

"Wait!" I said suddenly, a thought occurring to me that should have been there from the beginning. "We're not allowed pets back at the home. Even if we were it wouldn't be safe."

"You are new Hogwarts stock, correct?" The woman said, studying me in a way I disliked, but I nodded. "Tell you what. I'll keep her here, and on the way to the station on September 1st, swing by and pick her up. I'll hold her out the back for you."

"You'd do that?" I said in disbelief, not used to the kindness.

"Of course I would. But first you must name her." The woman said dismissively. I stared at the kitten prancing around the counter.

"Mystery." I said, "I think it would suit her. Mystery."

"That would make the two of you," Rondinio chuckled, but I didn't understand what he meant.

"Very well then. Good day." The woman said, taking the cat and placing it back in its cage before taking it around the back of the store as we left. I took a deep breath, not used to the kindness being displayed today let alone having to thank someone for them. I didn't do that sort of thing often.

"Thanks. For everything." I said quietly. Rondinio smiled at me, with understanding in his eyes. Somehow he could read people and seemed to know exactly how I was feeling.

"You're welcome. If I give you some money, are you alright to take the Knight Bus home by yourself? I have somewhere to be." He said, looking apologetic.

"Of course." I said, and internally winced at how unpleasant it had sounded.

"Of course you can." He said, having figured out my independence. He handed me the coins and instructed me on how to summon the bus. He smiled and took a step back. Then twisted on the spot, and was gone. He had just disappeared into thin air. I blinked, then shook my head, thinking about how crazy the day had been as I walked back to the Leaky Cauldron with my trunk in tow.

"Everything go alright?" The bartender asked as I passed him.

"Yep." I said in a bored tone, but something occurred to me and I momentarily stopped. "Is it normal to be able to disappear into thin air?" The bartender laughed, showing a mouth full of yellow and missing teeth.

"Disapparated on you, did he?" He said with a knowing smile. I was starting to get sick of them and scowled, which made him back track a little. "Apparation is when you disappear somewhere and appear somewhere else. Very handy little method of transportation. You don't get to learn that until you're seventeen, though."

"Okay." I said, and began to turn away, before reluctantly stopping myself and turning back. "Thanks." I walked about before I got another one of the smiles I no longer wanted.

There were a lot of uncertainty ahead, but one thing was for sure.

It was certainly going to be interesting.

**Hope you liked it! :)**

**Would you mind letting me know what you think of Sam and Rondinio? Sam because...she's the main character, and Rondinio because he is the headmaster. I didn't want to do another old Dumbledore figure, and thought a young Headmaster might put a different spin on things. **

**Review?**

**-MayFairy :)**


	7. I'm Sorry! & ADOPTION

**Okay, it seriously kills me to have to do this, but I'm giving up this story. ****My plans for it were too big, and it was never going to happen. There was not quite enough interest anyway. ****I am so sorry for anyone who liked it though.**

**However, there is a spark of hope.**

**This story is now up for adoption! ****I had heaps of plans for this story, and would be happy to hand them over too if you want.**

**Please PM me if you are interested because I want to see this story go on, I just don't have the time what with my other fan fictions and all.**

**Again, sorry!**


	8. ADOPTED

**Good news! This story has now offically been adopted. **

**Thanks so much to 'toavoidconversation'. She is my best FF buddy and I've already checked out her first chapter, and it's epic. We're shared ideas, and I've given her all the plans I had for this story. You'll probably like her version better than mine anyway. **

**So please check it out. You'll probably find her in the reviews page for this. **


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